Can the Dutchman take United up a notch?
All the hysteria surrounding the arrival of Robin Van Persie has meant that it’s very difficult for any United fan not to get carried away with the signing of the Premier League’s top goalscorer. Trawling through social media sites as well as speaking to friends and family the whole RVP announcement almost felt like the time we signed Eric Cantona or the afternoon I got home from school to see Andy Cole was joining the Reds. The signing may have seemed imminent but with the on/off Wesley Sniejder/Lucas Moura deals of late, not to mention us being favourites for a certain tweeting Belgian there was an air of reservation amongst many Reds until the deal was actually confirmed by someone more credible than an ‘ITK agent’ on twitter.
Many people I spoke to, or read, were claiming that not only is the league was now assured, European glory beckons and that this could be the most triumphant season since “and Solskjaer has won it.”
Naturally I’d love that assessment to be true and I think the first part is close to the truth although not due to the arrival of Van Persie. I’ve said all along that the return of Nemanja Vidic, plus Paul Scholes starting the season rather than coming into it at the halfway stage, David De Gea being more settled and Tom Cleverley, hopefully playing more than a handful of games, should give United the edge in the title race. Losing our captain was a massive blow, despite Jonny Evans’s superb form and with him in the heart of our defence I always felt the league was there for the taking.
Signing Van Persie may make the league title slightly easier to wrestle from City’s grasp, but I’m not totally convinced we’ve now gone from a side that was going to finish second to one that will finish first in the Premiership.
That brings me onto Europe, could United launch an assault on club football’s most coveted prize? Similarly to the league we were already in a better position to have a successful season in Europe the question is how successful? It’s difficult to see past the two Spanish sides for Champions League glory, but as Chelsea showed last season, anything can happen.
The signing of Van Persie doesn’t suddenly make me think we’re good enough to win the CL, but there’s one major factor his arrival does change: belief.
A marquee player like him arriving at Old Trafford, at the peak of his footballing ability suddenly makes everyone ‘believe’ we’re capable of beating practically anyone, even the cream of Europe and that is one positive that cannot be ignored. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen this sort of excitement before when the likes of Juan Sebastian Veron or Dimitar Berbatov arrived as seemingly the ‘final pieces of the puzzle’ to take United to another level. The difference between then and now is United weren’t wounded beasts when the two supremely talented individuals signed. We were on something of a wave and confidence was at its pinnacle.
Now though following last season and the recent transfer snubs, United more than ever need a bit of a lift, the sort of boost that can translate to stepping onto the pitch assured that we’re going to win. RVP’s arrival also gives us our strongest strike force since 1999 and the rotation of that quartet didn’t work out too badly, so it’s not even a case of trying to accommodate him.
I was n’t convinced we needed Van Persie, but now he’s here, I can already feel the buzz and excitement he’s created and can’t see that being a bad thing especially in the light of recent Glazer-induced turbulent times amongst fans and even the manager.
Van Persie may not be enough to help us conquer Europe, he may not have been necessary for us to regain the league, but the belief he’s suddenly given everyone at Manchester United, is worth a lot more than even his hefty price tag…and it’s only been a matter of hours.
What utter crap. We’re still stuck with Rooney and his profligate ways, and every man and his dog knows how lousy he’s been throughout his career as a strike partner. It was his limitations, not Berbatov’s, that forced such a supremely gifted individual like the Bulgarian on to the sidelines.
Furthermore, unless Cleverly and Kigawa suddenly turn into world beaters, and Anderson suddenly discovers how to play at his peak levels consistently, United are still stuck with a crap midfield that will get treated with utter contempt by Europe’s best, so forget about the laughable claims to Europe’s major competition. You could have Pele and Van Basten at their peak up front and it wouldn’t make a world of difference if they aren’t getting quality ball from the midfield, particularly if the engine room is constantly chasing shadows and only seeing 30% – 40% of the ball. Same again for United’s extremely limited game plan, because of the weak midfield, of playing with width to get the wingers constantly banging in crosses, which makes United one dimensional, predictable, and totally cuts down on the strike forces ability to score – after all, despite his improvements in the area of heading, Rooney is still a pretty short guy and totally overwhelmed by big central defenders who’ll always win the air duels against him nine times out of ten.
So while Van Persie’s acquisition is nice, it certainly doesn’t make a huge difference, not unless Fergie is prepared to finally see the light and appreciate how limited Rooney is in the solo striker role, especially when they play that formation against the better teams. As the solo option up front, Van Persie would be the better option.
I’d have been far more excited had they taken all the money they’ve plunked down on Kigawa, Van Persie, etc and simply signed a world class midfielder. We can only hope Kigawa proves a valuable and astute acquisition, and that Cleverly finally gets a full season to show what he’s capable of.
First of all its kagawa. Second of all Rooney plays fine with strike partners. Thirdly everything else you said was a load of crap too.
it is kagawa.
and u were aq prolific striker at united werent u ? what a douche !
I reckon it is a stupid signing and i am baffled as to why Fergie has looked past the strikers extensive injury record to pay such an outrageous fee. Yeah he had a good season but really? Hes nearly 30, 8 seasons with Arsenal only 1 full season and inconsistent on the international platform. If your ask me Arsenal robbed us.
I agree too, such an inflated price gives off a smell of desperation that I don’t like being associated with our club.
I hope part of the fee is conditional on appearances in case he gets the bad luck of Hargreaves.
The thing about Van Persie is that we shouldn’t need to rely on Rooney so much. With the two of them playing together they should be frightening. But also we could rotate during the early stages of the Champions league. We can play Rooney Hernadez one week. Van Persie Welbeck the next.
I see it being a really big help & i don’t think the midfield will be a problem. This should give time for Clevz to find his feet again.
Could be a great season
RVP will add firepower but it’s the defence, or lack of it, is the real problem. Last season showed mercilessly how bad were Evans, Evra, Ferdinand, Rafael et el were. I am totally flustered at SAF’s failure to buy a couple of decent defenders rather than chasing Moura and Co. He still should have some money left as RVP cost a bit less than LM so he should still be able to buy before window closes. Strikers win games but defence wins trophies.
Ok he’s here – welcome to OT! But i can’t figure out why saf isn’t after a good central midfielder.. Scholesy wont play forever!
I think fergie is comfortable with his current midfield… scholes, carrick, giggs, ando, kagawa, cleverley… possibly powell who i don’t think is ready.. and even jones who’s deputized there as a defensive mid last season.
If anything, he will spend the cash next year.. can’t see him spending money on another midfielder this season.
I think the real issue this year will come down to defence. Jones, smalling, evans and rio are all injury prone.. evra is getting older.. if anything we need some backup.
ECL,EPL,FA 2013 winners are MANCHESTER UNITED !!!!!!!!thats if rvp,ferdy5,cleverly,ando,vidic n kagawa stay injury free.
I don’t see Rooney and RVP as a strike patnership to be honest and I don’t believe Ferguson does either.
He will play RVP upfront by himself. It does mean Rooney getting a new role as the link and number 10 between midfield and striker.
I think Rooney’s relentless work rate that causes him to drop deep to get involved has effected the attack. Berbatov then wanted to do the same when he arrived and drop off.
We can now have Rooney dropping off and developing the play, while RVP stays uptop and finish off the chances created.
…………..Dea Gea………
Rafeal…Ferdinand…Vidic…Evra
…….Carrick….Cleverley……
..Valeancia….Rooney….Kagawa…
………….Van persie………..
We still need a left back and I would love to see Vasilis Torosidis arrive because he is versatile.
Omg, SAF will need to be buying Zimmerman frames for the reds. We are soooo old Rvp will probably need a season to really bed in, he’ll be 43 then. Last seasons we flagged the Berties off for spending- we are worse. What about raising our own youth? Why are we running scared. We’ve spent 24 million on an old geezer. Aguero is 24, Balotteli 21, silva 25 – were stuffed!
Van Persie will add what Chicharito and Wellbeck lack in experience to the attacking line. I can’t wait to see the partnership between him and Rooney blossoming into the most awesome and deadliest attacking front line in Europe.
Sorry but you’re getting a bit up yourselves thinking you’ve got the best front line in Europe! Fucking hell it’s not even the best in the league! I hate Man City but they have a better front line.